pharisees

The Origins of Christianity Tour: Part 2

Dr John Dickson at Wadi Qelt
Read time: 22 minutes

In this post, I begin my summary of the Origins of Christianity tour. It will cover my first three days in Israel and two days of the tour, which was focussed on Jerusalem and the area of ancient Judah. Read more …

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Arguing from Silence: The Events Surrounding the Resurrection

The Fall of Jerusalem
Read time: 6 minutes

A complaint which one hears from time to time, is how events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are not attested in sources outside of the Bible. For example, a great darkness came over the land (Luke 23:44) and there was an earthquake (Matthew 27:54; also Matthew 28:2). Read more …

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Farcical Pharisees and Silly Sabbaths

Keep Calm and Remember the Sabbath
Read time: 8 minutes

In the gospels, Jesus often gets into trouble with the Jewish leaders (Pharisees) for doing good deeds on the Sabbath. The purpose of telling these stories were to show that the Jewish leaders, at that point, had gotten so caught up in their laws and legalism that they could not look past it to do good. This was turning them into uncaring and unloving hypocrites. Most Christians can identify this lesson and the warning which they need to take away from it. But the Jewish leaders' fervour for keeping the Sabbath "holy" seems almost comical. Why were they so strict on it? In this article I am going to explain my theory for their strictness. Read more …

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Sermon: "The Nativity According to the Gospel of John"

St. John's, Bothasig
Read time: 1 minute

Last night I preached my second sermon at St. John's church in Bothasig. My topic was "The Nativity According to the Gospel of John". This is a message idea which I have had for a long time and I was happy to finally deliver it. Read more …

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